Melvin Luther "Mel" Watt (b. August 26, 1945, in Steele Creek, NC) is the current Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He was nominated to the position by President Barack Obama on May 1, 2013, and was confirmed by the Senate on December 10, 2013, by a vote of 57-41.[1][2]

His nomination was successfully blocked by Senate Republicans in October 2013. It was the first time a sitting member of Congress has had a nomination filibustered since 1843.[3]

Key votes

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 114 out of the 3,036 introduced bills (3.8 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session.[10] For more information pertaining to Watt's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.[11]

National security

NDAA

Watt voted against HR 1960 - the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill passed the House on June 14, 2013, with a vote of 315 - 108. Both parties were somewhat divided on the vote.[12]

DHS Appropriations

Watt voted against HR 2217 - the DHS Appropriations Act (2014) Act of 2014. The bill passed the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 245 - 182 that was largely along party lines.[13]

CISPA (2013)

Watt voted against HR 624 - the CISPA (2013). The bill passed the House on April 18, 2013, with a vote of 288 - 127. The bill would allow federal intelligence agencies to share cybersecurity intelligence and information with private entities and utilities. The bill was largely supported by Republicans, but divided the Democratic Party.[14]

Economy

Government shutdown

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201.[15] At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference.[16] Watt voted against the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.[17]

The shutdown finally ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies.[18] The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. Watt voted for HR 2775.[19]

Federal Pay Adjustment Act

Watt voted against HR 273 - Eliminates the 2013 Statutory Pay Adjustment for Federal Employees. The bill passed the House on February 15, 2013, with a vote of 261 - 154. The bill would prevent a 0.5% pay increase for all federal workers from taking effect, saving the federal government $11 billion over 10 years.[20]

Immigration

Morton Memos Prohibition

Watt voted against House Amendment 136 - Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order. The amendment was adopted by the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 224 - 201. The purpose of the amendment as stated on the official text is to "prohibit the use of funds to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Morton Memos." These memos would have granted administrative amnesty to certain illegal aliens residing in the United States.[21] The vote largely followed party lines.[22]

Healthcare

Healthcare Reform Rules

Watt voted against House Amendment 450 - Requires Congressional Approval for Any Rules Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The amendment was adopted by the House on August 2, 2013, with a vote of 227-185. The amendment requires that all changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act be approved by Congress before taking effect. The vote was largely along party lines.[23]

Social issues

Abortion

Watt voted against HR 1797 - Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The resolution passed the House on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 228 - 196 that largely followed party lines. The purpose of the bill is to ban abortions that would take place 20 or more weeks after fertilization.[24]

Previous congressional sessions

Fiscal Cliff

Watt voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 172 Democrats who voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.[25]

Issues

On The Issues Vote Match

On The Issues conducts a VoteMatch analysis of elected officials based on 20 issue areas. Rather than relying on incumbents to complete the quiz themselves, the VoteMatch analysis is conducted using voting records, statements to the media, debate transcripts or citations from books authored by or about the candidate. Based on the results of the quiz, Watt is a Hard-Core Liberal. Watt received a score of 88 percent on social issues and 20 percent on economic issues.[26]

On The Issues organization logo.

The table below contains the results of analysis compiled by staff at On The Issues.

House Judiciary Committee

Congressman Watt was first appointed to the House Judiciary Committee shortly after he was first sworn into Congress in 1993. Watt has served continuously on the committee up to this date.[28] Congressman Watt serves on the House Judiciary Subcommittees on Courts and Competition Policy, the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Members and on Commercial and Administrative Law.[29][30][31]

Campaign themes

2012

Excerpt: "Corporate irresponsibility and the loss of our manufacturing base have resulted in an economic meltdown and loss of jobs like we have not seen since the Great Depression. My votes for the stimulus bill and for financial services reform were tough votes that required political courage. But they were necessary votes to get us headed in the right direction again."

Healthcare

Excerpt: "The new health care reform law represents a giant step toward providing basic health care to all our citizens, changing the focus from reacting to diseases to preventing them and getting our arms around the rising cost of health care. While the health care reform law is not perfect and must be carefully implemented, I am proud that I supported this historic legislation."

Education

Excerpt: "I believe that every citizen has a right to a quality education and I am a strong proponent of funding public education at the highest levels possible. I have consistently supported maximum funding for Head Start, programs authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and federal student aid programs."

Homeland Security

Excerpt: "I certainly favor protecting our country against attacks from people or groups plotting to do our citizens harm. But we must not require the American people to sacrifice their right of privacy and trample the principles underlying the individual rights of each citizen in the name of fighting terrorism."

Voting Rights

Excerpt: "We should want and encourage more, not fewer, Americans to vote and participate in our democracy. The Voting Rights Act facilitates that goal. By breaking down entrenched barriers to voter access and equity, the Voting Rights Act invites and protects the full and equal participation of all citizens. We must not fear that participation, we must embrace and celebrate it."

On November 3, 1998, Melvin L. Watt won re-election to the United States House. He defeated John "Scott" Keadle (R) and Michael G. Smith (Libertarian) in the general election.[43]

U.S. House, North Carolina District 12 General Election, 1998

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Melvin L. Wattincumbent

56%

82,305

Republican

John "Scott" Keadle

42.2%

62,070

Libertarian

Michael G. Smith

1.8%

2,713

Total Votes

147,088

1996

On November 5, 1996, Melvin L. Watt won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Joseph A. (Joe) Martino, Jr. (R), Roger L. Kohn (Libertarian) and Walter Lewis (Natural Law) in the general election.[44]

U.S. House, North Carolina District 12 General Election, 1996

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Melvin L. Wattincumbent

71.5%

124,675

Republican

Joseph A. (Joe) Martino, Jr.

26.7%

46,581

Libertarian

Roger L. Kohn

1.1%

1,874

Natural Law

Walter Lewis

0.7%

1,269

Total Votes

174,399

1994

On November 8, 1994, Melvin L. Watt won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Joseph A. (Joe) Martino (R) in the general election.[45]

U.S. House, North Carolina District 12 General Election, 1994

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Melvin L. Wattincumbent

65.8%

57,655

Republican

Joseph A. (Joe) Martino

34.2%

29,933

Independent

Write-in

0%

33

Total Votes

87,621

1992

On November 3, 1992, Melvin L. Watt won election to the United States House. He defeated Barbara Gore Washington (R) and Curtis Wade Krumel (Libertarian) in the general election.[46]

U.S. House, North Carolina District 12 General Election, 1992

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Melvin L. Watt

70.4%

127,262

Republican

Barbara Gore Washington

27.3%

49,402

Libertarian

Curtis Wade Krumel

2.3%

4,160

Total Votes

180,824

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Watt is available dating back to 2000. Based on available campaign finance records, Watt raised a total of $3,791,750 during that time period. This information was last updated on May 16, 2013.[47]

PGI: Change in net worth

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Watt's net worth as of 2012 was estimated between $444,041 and $1,414,000. That averages to $929,020.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic representatives in 2012 of $5,700,168.36. Watt ranked as the 217th most wealthy representative in 2012.[55] Between 2004 and 2012, Watt's calculated net worth[56] decreased by an average of 2 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2012, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent.[57]

Comparatively, the American citizen experienced a median yearly decline in net worth of -0.94%.[59]

The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Watt missed 253 of 13,539 roll call votes from Jan 1993 to Apr 2013, which is 1.9% of votes during that period. This is better than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving.[62]

Congressional staff salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Melvin paid his congressional staff a total of $1,027,436 in 2011. Overall, North Carolina ranked 7th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[63]

National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Watt ranked 45th in the liberal rankings among members of the U.S. House.[64]

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Watt ranked 50th in the liberal rankings among members of the U.S. House.[65]

Voting with party

June 2013

Watt voted with the Democratic Party 93.1 percent of the time, which ranked 81st among the 201 House Democratic members as of June 2013.[66]

Personal

Watt is married to Eulada Paysour Watt, an educator. They have two sons, Brian and Jason, both of whom are graduates of Yale University and have earned graduate degrees.[67]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Melvin + Watt + North Carolina + House

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↑The questions in the quiz are broken down into two sections -- social and economic. In social questions, liberals and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while conservatives and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictive answers. For the economic questions, conservatives and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while liberals and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictive answers.

↑This figure represents the average annual percentage growth from either 2004 (if the member entered office in 2004 or earlier) or their first year in office (as noted in the chart below) to 2012, divided by the number of years calculated.

↑This number was found by dividing each member's total net worth growth percentage by the number of years included in the calculation.

↑This figure represents the total percentage growth divided by the number of years for which there are net worth figures for each member.